By Cam Lucadou-Wells
An award-winning South East service is calling for funding to continue its family violence prevention work.
Wellsprings for Women was presented the Fiona Richardson Award for Gender Equity on 12 April for its ground-breaking Be The Voice magazine.
Chief executive Dalal Smiley said the award was timely as the service was lobbying to renew funding for its six-year community education program in the upcoming State Budget.
A recent Wellsprings social media post calling for funding was trolled by what supporters described as “disgusting”, “disgraceful” and “misogynistic” comments.
“Wellsprings’ campaign to secure ongoing funding for Prevention of Violence Against Women received a lot of support on social media,” Smiley said.
“But it also flushed out the kind of attitudes and commentaries that persist in our society which undermine prevention work, perpetuate misogyny, condone violence against women, and deny the seriousness and damaging effects of domestic violence on women and children.
“This is happening despite the glaring fact that at least one woman is murdered each week in this country by a current or former partner.
“We have so much work to do before women feel safe wherever they are and whoever they are with.”
Smiley said the prevention work which targeted migrant and refugee women who face language and cultural barriers was vital to reducing family violence.
“Such programs help women to understand that family violence is more than physical abuse.
“They start to recognise all forms of abuse: emotional, financial, religious, and coercive control tactics.
“If we don’t keep doing this, the rate of women becoming victims to family violence will continue to increase.”
Last year, the State Government provided $788,000 over two years for a separate Wellsprings service to support victim survivors of family and sexual violence as well as funding for the awareness program.
A spokesperson said the government’s “nation-leading work to end family violence” included helping refugee, migrant and asylum seeker women overcome barriers to seeking help.
“We are making it easier for Victoria’s diverse communities to access help when they are victims of family violence with a range of measures such as funding Wellsprings for Women.”
Meanwhile, the project Be The Voice was awarded at Wellsprings by Neighbourhood Houses Victoria chief executive Kier Paterson.
Be The Voice is a digital and print multilingual magazine co-designed with South East women from Indian, Afghan and Arabic-speaking backgrounds.
They provided the stories. And collaborated on three sensitive topics relating to family violence – coercive control, sexual assault, and early and forced marriages.
More than 1000 copies of the magazine have been distributed. It is also available online.
Wellsprings chair Janet Cribbes said the women tackled topics that are “deeply personal and private”.
“This was made possible by ensuring the women feel safe to share and are supported throughout the project.”
A participant said that “sense of security” was the best part about the project.
“Personally, I could easily express all my problems without fear of being revealed.
“We get inspired and understood so much about women’s rights and family.”
